Thurlbear, Swell Wood & Greylake

It seems ages since I went on the last DBWPS meeting, and that's probably because it was nearly a week ago. Last Monday, in fact, but I haven't had time to download my photos before now. I'm actually typing this sitting on board our canal boat Muriel in the evening sunshine, lovely!

Back to the birds....

Six of us met up at Thurlbear, making it the smallest gathering I've been to. We had an excellent day's birding, and even the weather stayed fine for us.

We could easily have started the day with a disaster had David not noticed that I'd inadvertently attached him to my tripod. I couldn't do it again if I tried...

Good thing David noticed before walking off

Oops!

We were soon listening to the song of Nightingales, and even had a brief glimpse of one. We think there were probably at least 3 of them, although it's difficult to be sure.

I think Jonathan was praying for a Nightingale to show itself!

An interesting habitat. We found 27 species including the Nightingales

We then moved on to Swell Wood RSPB for lunch in the car park. We spent a while in the hide watching the heronry, which was pretty busy & noisy, not surprisingly as according to the notice there are 77 nests in use, with a few Little Egrets in amongst the Herons. Afterwards we walked down the lane to the Levels, stopping to scan as we went.

We soon spotted two Common Cranes on the Levels below.

A large bird on a post caused a bit of debate, as it was doing a pretty good impression of a Marsh Harrier. Jonathan however was adamant that it was a Buzzard & when it eventually flew he was proved to be right. It also took a while to figure out a distant bird, which turned out to be a lovely male Whinchat. At first I missed a Whitethroat - was a bit disappointing as I hadn't seen one yet this year - but luckily it was nice enough to give us all a good look on our way back.

I wonder why they call it the Somerset Levels?

We headed off towards Greylake, stopping a few times to scan the surrounding countryside. We were glad we did as we found 36 Common Cranes. I know they're all part of a release project but they're still pretty amazing to see. There was also another Buzzard doing impersonations, this one was so white it looked more like an Osprey.

There were about 30 Cranes one way & 6 Cranes & 2 Hares the other

Jonathan, Ian & Jeff then headed for home whilst David, Libby & myself carried on towards Greylake. We did stop one more time on the way and were treated to the fantastic sight of about 28 Cranes flying in to join a few that were already on the ground. When we finally made it to Greylake it was getting quite late. There wasn't much from the hide just some Mallards, a gadwall, 5 or 6 Redshanks & a pair of mating Buzzards! However, we did finish on a high during our walk back to the car park with a singing Cettis Warbler & a fleeting glimpse of a Sedge Warbler.

Greylake from the hide

It really had been a great day, with quite a few firsts for the year...Nightingale, Whinchat, Whitethroat, SedgeWarbler & the Common Cranes.

Torbay & a Somerset Hawfinch

As I'd enjoyed my visit to Hope's Nose, on Saturday (22nd) I headed to Berry Head, the other side of Torbay, to see how it compared. When I arrived it was pouring with rain & blowing a hooley, it was supposed to be from the SE but seemed to vary quite a bit. I headed down past the quarry to sea-watch from the bottom of the cliff to get some shelter. The Fulmars really close on the cliff, I think it's the first time I've ever actually heard them. I saw a couple of Great Northern Divers, lots of Gannets, Razorbills & Guillemots, and a few Kittiwakes. I stayed for about an hour before trudging back up the hill with my head down against the wind & rain. Half way up I happened to glance up and saw a dorsal fin really close into the shore in the bay. It was fantastic to see, the first time I've seen anything like it in this country. The tip of the fin had been damaged & looked quite jagged. I saw it a few times before it disappeared. About 10 minutes later I saw 2 much further out, I don't know if one of them was the same individual as I didn't notice the tip of the fin. However, this time there were 2, a large one & a calf. The large one was gracefully breaking the surface of the water with its back & fin, but the small one kept making a splash, although I couldn't quite work out what it was doing. Having some fun maybe! I've since been told that they were probably Harbour Porpoises. They certainly made my day.

View back towards Torbay from the lower level at Berry Head

View West from Berry Head

I stopped at Brixham Harbour next & saw 2 Great Northern Divers just beyond the marina. Then on to Broadsands where I saw another Great Northern Diver, 6 Great Crested Grebes & a Black-necked Grebe.

I later checked Devon Bird News to see an entry by Mike Langman which mentioned a boat trip in Torbay on Sunday (23rd). So I got up at 5.45am to head back to Paignton Harbour for a 2 1/2 hr trip around the bay. There were only 4 of us, including Mike, and the organiser Nigel. The weather was pretty good, and the water was quite calm apart from the short time we spent beyond Berry Head, when it got a bit lumpy. We had some fantastic views of Great Northern Divers, Razorbills & Guillemots, and a glimpse of the Black-necked Grebe & more Harbour Porpoises. We also saw some Purple Sandpipers in the breakwater & 2 Peregrines. The others saw a Red-throated Diver, but I missed it. It was well worth £12 & I'll certainly booking on a few more trips in the future.

Our transport around the bay

Approaching Berry Head

After the trip I headed to Boradsands again to look for the 'Tristis type' Chiffchaff that had been seen there for a while. Luckily I met a local birder who had seen it regularly since its arrival & had heard it calling. He found it for me and the differences were quite marked. I guess officially I shouldn't count it on my list as I didn't hear it call, but I'm happy it was a Siberian Chiffchaff, so I'm going to!

At the end of the boat trip I'd asked Mike Langman if he could suggest somewhere locally that I could find a Woodcock. I was expecting him to send me off to a soggy woodland somewhere, but instead he suggested Morrison's in Paignton! He said to park in the small car park beside the fuel station & that when it got dark the Woodcocks fly from the direction of the Paignton Zoo Aviary over the car park in the direction of the school. I was about to give up and go home at 5 as it was dark, when I suddenly heard an odd whistling noise approaching rapidly, although unfortunately it was coming up Morrison's access road the other side of the street lights to where I was standing. I only had a brief glimpse of the bird as it went past the last street light & headed low over the petrol station, but between that, the noise & it taking the predicted route, I'm happy it was a Woodcock.

Morrison's in Paignton......Woodcock country!

That was the last of my 2012 Devon birding. On Christmas morning we headed to Reading to spend a couple of days with my sister, her family & my parents. Our route took us just 15 minutes away from Bruton in Somerset where a couple of Hawfinches have been seen for a week or so. It would have been rude not to try for them, so we diverted off the A303, allowing a maximum of 30 minutes at the churchyard. We didn't even need that long as I found a female at the top of a tree after about 15 mins. A Christmas Day tick!

Bruton Church & Hawfinch tree (the middle tall twiggy one!)

It's a shame there's no more access to the Queen Mother Reservoir near Windsor until 2013, a Buff-bellied Pipit would look nice on my list.

Year List now on 220 + 3

Fudge Duck

Yesterday (Sunday) I should have been researching laptops as mine has died & I need a new one. However, a Ferruginous Duck was reported as being on the floods at Hay Moor in Somerset, giving me the perfect excuse to put off my technical headache for another day. It was just over an hour away & I didn't set off until about 11, but at least the directions were quite good. In fact I'd been there before in the Spring looking for, & failing to find, a White Stork.

I went straight to New Road and drove south from the A361 towards North Curry, until I could go no further.

The end of the line....

I joined forces with a very nice chap from Taunton, who had a 400+ UK Life List. It's always nice to bump into an expert! There were quite a few sight-seers at the blockage so we walked up the hill a little way to get a view across the hedges. Iinitially the light was pretty awful and we couldn't find a single duck anywhere on the vast area of flooding.Then we found a fairly large flock of Tufted Ducks and by walking back to the road closure & looking through a gateway we had quite a good view of them. It only took a few seconds to find the nice drake Ferruginous Duck among them. I tried a spot of Digiscoping, but I still haven't got the hang of it. Still, at least I can prove I saw it!

Record shot of the Ferruginous (aka Fudge) Duck

I had planned to do a bit of exploring in the area, but as it started raining I just ate lunch & then headed home wearing a big grin!

Year List now on 213

Super, Smashing, Great!

Yesterday I decided it was time to go for another rarity. The Cream-coloured Courser was tempting, but it was bit far (Herefordshire somewhere) & I had one on the Scillies back in 2004. So, I headed off to Weston-super-Mare for the Great Reed Warbler, which I’ve only seen in Spain before.

It was at the sewage works, which was actually quite picturesque as sewage works go! 

The view from the sewage works banking

When I arrived at about 10.00 there were a few people there, which was handy as I wasn't sure where to go. As I was putting up my tripod the bird flew between 2 areas of reeds, but I had my hands full so didn't get my bins on it. It certainly looked big! It was silent for a while, but then started singing, & boy is it loud! At least the pressure was off as I'd seen it, but I really wanted a better look. 

The Great Reed Warbler was singing near the left hand bushes

Most people left, so for a while there were just 2 of us & it turned out that the other chap was from Exmouth as well! Then a few more people arrived including 2 very casual chaps who arrived and immediately lay down on the bank for a snooze! A couple of chaps saw the warbler climb a reed, but I missed it. It was quite windy, so it was mainly staying low & out of sight. I was in no hurry, which was just as well! At about 11.30 it reappeared & I had a reasonable view, all be it a bit obscured through the reeds. At least I could see it singing. I decided to give it until 12.00 to see if I could get an even better view. At 11.58 it flew out of the tall reeds & was fully visible on the short green reeds in the middle of the channel before flying further down the channel & disappearing. So did I.

Great Reed Warbler spotting

It was a lovely sunny day, so I thought I'd make the most of it. Although I've been to Shapwick Heath a few times  now, I've always started at the East end & never gone beyond the Noah's Hide junction. I decided this was a good afternoon to go a bit further. When I got to the junction there was a Landrover, some chairs, scopes & an enthusiastic man from Natural England. It turned out that they had just announced that Great White Egrets have bred on the reserve & according to the  chap, the male Egret was due to come in to feed the youngster in about 10 minutes! I waited with baited breath, & waited, & waited & made use of the chairs, & waited some more. Luckily I was in no hurry! About 1 1/2 hrs later, in he came, dropped down into the reeds for about a minute & then flew off again. Great!! The wait had been very pleasant & we did see a Bittern fly in then start booming which was rather nice. 

The nest is near the middle tree behind the reeds

The watch point

Dropping into the nest by the twiggy tree

I then walked off to the Decoy Hide, which was quite a way. There was an impressive fly-by of 7 helicopters of various types. It would probably have been better though if it hadn't flown right over the reserve.

The 7th wasn't flying in the formation

 I didn't see many birds, but I had a lovely walk & saw a few other beasties.

Four-spotted Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

Brimstone butterfly

Horrible huge beetle (about 1 1/2 inches)...a Devils Coach-horse maybe?

It had been a fab day. Year List now on 189 + 2

A Nightingale Sang...but not in Berkeley Square

The DBWPS meeting yesterday started off at Thurlebear Woods near Taunton, a site I’ve not been to before. There were only nine of us this time, maybe due to the fact that it was forecast to rain all day.

We were only briefly in the woods themselves, soon emerging onto the adjacent shrubby grassland. I didn’t know before we arrived that this was a Nightingale hunt, a bird I’ve never seen in the UK so can’t count on song alone. We hadn’t been there long when someone heard one singing. I must admit that I wouldn’t have known what it was as it’s a few years since I last heard one, and that was in Spain. At first they were only making short burbling noises, but by about 11:00 they must have warmed up their vocal chords (or their syrinx to be exact, as birds don't have vocal chords!) as their songs got longer & more complex.  There must have been 4 or 5 of them singing but actually seeing one wasn't easy. At one stage one sounded really close & although a couple of people saw a bit of it, all I saw was a bird drop down through the foliage. Although it was almost certainly the Nightingale, my conscience wouldn’t allow me to count it.

Just imagine.... Nightingales singing in the bushes ...

... & still blue sky despite the forecast

We were there for nearly 2 hours & were on our way out when we heard one singing nearby which then flew out of the bushes towards us, changed its mind & flew in again. So, although not the best view in the world, this time I saw enough!

There was a surprising lack of other birds about, but we did see a Mistle Thrush, a swallow, 2 Bullfinches, Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Buzzards & a Sparrowhawk that did a low fly-by. 

On to Staple Hill for lunch, intending to eat at the viewpoint overlooking the Somerset Levels below. However, the rain finally arrived at the same time as us, so we ate in our cars/van in the car park. Amazingly enough, when we finished lunch, the rain stopped!

Off to the viewpoint, and it was a great view. David reckoned he’d found some Cranes, but at 3 or 4 miles away, they were just pale spots to me! Only Goldcrest & Dunnock were added to the list, but it was still worth a visit.

Dave & Wally debating the identity of the white dots...

Resting on a slice of geology

On to Otterhead Lakes which is part of an old abandoned estate & very close to the source of the River Otter.We walked past the lakes and back through woodlands. We had lovely views of a Grey Wagtail in a tree & a Common Sandpiper having a kip on a tiny floating island of vegetation.

The Common Sand was on its private island at the far end of the lake

The last stop was Upottery Airfield in Smeatharpe, in search of the Little Owl that hangs about the old airfield buildings. Unfortunately, we didn't see it and there was just a lot of wind, some Linnets, Skylarks & Stock Doves. A local out walking his dog said that he’d found a dead shrike a few weeks ago. Presumably that must be the bird I came to see back in Feb.  ( http://exmouthbirder.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/ducks-shrike-anti-aircraft-gun.html ). A sad end.

Little Owl hunting on the windy runway.

Headed home. Not a long list, but three new sites visited, another bird on the Year List & a new UK one at that! And what’s more, despite the forecast, we stayed dry all day!

Year List on 174 + 2

On the Levels

Yesterday there was a DBWPS trip to the Somerset Levels. About 20 of us met up at the car park at Swell Wood RSPB & started with a quick visit to the hide for a look at the Heronry. There were a few small furry beasts scuttling about in the vegetation in front of the hide which the RSPB helper told us were Bank Voles. Unfortunately they were a bit too fast to allow a good look.

When I visited Swell Wood with Mary a couple of weeks ago we admired the view across the Levels not realising that the area we were looking at below the wood is actually West Sedgemoor RSPB. I certainly didn't see any signs & the Swell Wood map doesn't show it either.

We walked down the lane onto the Levels and watched from there for a while. However, there didn't appear to be any trails or viewing platforms. Apparently there used to be a hide but that's been removed. It all seems a little odd. We had a couple of very distant views of a Marsh Harrier & a possible Hen Harrier, (it was too for off for a definite ID), but nothing else too exciting.

Walking down to West Sedgemoor

& looking out over the reserve

Then off towards Othery, stopping on the way when another possible Hen Harrier apparently flew out in front of the leading car (we didn't see it). We stopped for lunch & a few hardy birders ate along the river bank in the sunshine, despite the cold wind. We ate in the car & almost got left behind when the convoy moved off without telling us, we couldn't see them as they were hidden behind a camper van.

When David (the day's leader) & Wally recced the route last week, they found the 33 released Cranes in a field near Othery. We went back there, but there was no sign of them. We stopped again at a bridge which gave a good view across the Levels. There were some very very distant grey blobs which most of us agreed were a few of the Cranes. Some of the group were adamant that they were in fact sheep, however they must have been a very rare breed as we saw them flapping their wings a few times!

A bridge provides a handy viewpoint 

On to Greylake RSPB. A Red Kite had left just before we arrived, but at least we had good views of a female Hen Harrier. There were also a few Redshanks, Lapwings, Wigeon, Teal & Tufties, but nothing of note.

Greylake from the hide

The last stop was Shapwick Heath. We quickly found the 2 Long-billed Dowitchers in their usual spot in the drained lagoon, along with 2 rather nice looking Spotted Redshanks. There was also a black billed white Egret on the far side of the pool with an orange ring on each leg. There was a bit of a disagreement as to whether it was a Great White or a Little......

We moved on towards Noah's hide. A huge flock of Martins flew over, I think they were mainly Sand but there were at least a few House in there too. A few of the group went to the hide but came back to say it was packed solid, so we spent a bit of time in the track down to it instead. We were treated to some lovely views of a Goldcrest preening & a Bittern flying directly overhead. David thought he heard a Whitethroat singing, but we couldn't find it. At last we started to hear some Bitterns booming and a Cetti's singing.

Back at the lagoon, the light was fantastic for admiring the Dowitchers. A Buzzard flew over quite low putting them & the Black-tailed Godwits up. When they landed, the 2 Dowitchers had become separated. They're always side by side, so there was a bit of a mad dash to get back together. You could see their relief on being reunited!

The mystery Egret was now on the move & showing us its black feet as it waded in the shallow water. That clinched it, it was definitely a Great White. One of the Little Egret camp maintained it must be a different bird....an amazing coincidence, both having orange leg rings like that!

The Magical Mystery Tour

Yesterday I collected Mary from Bristol Airport to start an 11 day birding trip. We don't actually know where we're going, we're just going to keep an eye on the Birdguides website & follow the birds. It will be a bit of a mixture of chasing the rareties & exploring new places.

Straight from the airport we headed to Blagdon Lake in Somerset. Nothing particularly interesting birdwise, but an amazing collection of dead bugs in the gutter & live ones attempting to feed on us.

Weird dead bug collection

Then to Chew Valley Lake in search of the Spotted Sandpiper that has been at Herriot's Pool for a while. I knew where it was meant to be as I'd had a failed attempt before Christmas, so we were quite hopefull. When we arrived a couple of birders were there & one chap already had a bird that he thought may be it, but it required a bit of a contortion to get the scope onto it over a fence. We  managed to get it in the scope & Mary had a reasonable look that revealed the yellow legs. I already have it on the Year list from Lyme Regis but it was a UK tick for Mary. Not a bad start to her Year List.

We were booked into Cheddar Youth Hostel & Mary had never been to Cheddar Gorge before, we headed there via the gorge. We spotted a scope set up by the road so zipped into the Car Park to find an RSPB chap watching a Peregrine nest. Had great views.

Cheddar Gorge

A good start to the trip although nothing new for me on the Year List.


This morining we headed straight to Shapwick Heath in search of the Long-billed Dowitchers. We walked down the track & immediately came across a couple of Brummy birders that had them in the scope. Easy! The 2 Dowitchers stuck close together & we had good views. There was also a Great White Egret which was a bonus for Mary, although I already have it.

Watching the Dowitchers

We had a great time wandering around the reserve & I picked up a couple more Year List birds: Marsh Harrier, Bearded Tit, Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, Little-ringed Plover & loads of booming Bitterns, although we weren't lucky enough to see one. Mary got all of those except for the Bearded Tit that flew off before she managed to find it with my rubbish directions.

It was lunchtime by the time we got back to the van. We then headed off to Westhay Moor just up the road. It's amazing how many reserves there are in such a relatively small area. We spent quite a bit of time wandering & exploring. It was fairly quiet, but had a Water Rail fly past in front of the hide & a walk around the raised bog gave us a couple of Kestrels hovering & perching.

Then off to the last reserve of the day, Calcott Lows. We felt in need of some refreshment so stopped at the Burtle Inn. It turned into a bit of an experience. It's actually quite normal for us to have a 'tea incident' on our birding trips, but normally it's when we're abroad, so there is an excuse for the inability of the locals to make a decent cuppa. In a pub in Somerset, it came as a surprise. We should have seen it coming as the bar staff was Spanish. She admitted that she couldn't work the rather posh coffee machine, much to Mary's disapointment (she's a bit of a coffee officianado). I said I'd have a pot of tea & Mary settled for an Espresso rather than a Cappuccino, as that was the only variety of coffee on offer.

My mini pot of tea duly arrived & I left it a few minutes to brew. I had been provided with a strainer so twigged that it was leaves rather than bags. When I poured, it did look a bit strong, so I thought I must have left it to brew a bit long. I drank it, although it was stripping the enamel off of my teeth. It was only when I'd finished & actually looked in the pot that to my amazement I found that about 1/3rd of the pot was leaves. It must have been at least 2 tablespooons full. No wonder it looked like a proper Northern pot that would keep the spoon upright!

Tea leaf overdose

I was off in the loo when Mary mentioned to owner at the bar that she should maybe give the Spanish bar staff a bit of training in order to prevent the caffeine poisoning of future tea drinkers. At first she was a bit stressed about it until she realised that we found it highly amusing. She then saw the funny side. She didn't charge us for the pot, although it must have adversely effected the daily profits considering we had used a week's supply of Tetley.

Catcott Lows was a different kettle of fish to the other reserves we had visited during the day.... there were no reeds. It was a vast area of shallow water & the light was just right for some superb views of Teal, Wigeon & a few Pintail. Surprisingly & disappointingly though, there were no snipe.

Catcott Lows

Year List total now on 154 (Long-billed Dowitcher, Bittern, Beared Tit, Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, Marsh Harrier, Little-ringed Plover)

Mary is off and running at last with a Year List of 65.

Reeds galore

I've been to lots of reedy reserves around the country, but I think Ham Wall RSPB in Somerset takes the biscuit, so I'm not surprised that it's billed as being a nationally important wetland. The reserve is in the northern part of the Somerset Levels & Moors near to Glastonbury & has been created from old peat workings. We went in search of a Great White Egret that's been at the reserve for a few weeks, well I went in search of it & Simon & Vera came along to keep me company!

The Egret had been on Birdguides as being near the 1st viewing platform the day before. We arrived late morning, walked into the reserve along the old railway line to the first viewing platform & there it was! The Great White Egret was at the back of the lake, but being very accurately named, it stuck out like a sore thumb! One of my easier birds!

It's the white blob at the back taken on my 5x zoom Lumix

Simon & Vera stayed at the viewpoint whilst I walked around the 1.3km Loxton Marsh Trail. I'm not very good with bird calls, but Cetti's Warblers are very distinctive & even I can recognise them. There were several calling from the reeds, but unfortunately I didn't manage to see one. Normally when I list birds for a day or trip, I count a bird I've heard but not seen as long as I've seen it in the UK before. I'm currently waiting for clarification as to whether this is also the case for the Year List Race. I was really hoping to see a Bittern with all those reeds, but the closest I got was a large buff coloured bird flying behind trees at a distance,  it could have been one, but then again......certainly not good enough to count.

Open water & reeds, with Glastonbury Tor a little bump in the background.

Headed back to the viewpoint without seeing anything new, just a few Cormorants, ducks, tits & finches. Simon & Vera had just made it back to the van, so I joined them for a quick lunch. Ham Wall was on one side of the Car Park, and on the other side was Shapwick Heath National Nature Resreve. It would have been rude to leave without having a quick look, so I nipped in whilst Simon & V listened to the Testostatones Doo-Wop singers on radio 2. They were excellent.

More reeds, unsurprisingly, but also some  very wet woodland. I walked in as far as the first hide where I saw a couple of lovely male Goldeneye in among the other ducks. Still no Bittern or Bearded tits, but it was a flying visit as we had to get V home for her tea!

Noah's Lake from the hide

Wet woodland

I was impressed with both reserves & will definitely be making a return visit.

Year List on 129 & 1 Sub-species (maybe 130 if I can have the Cetti's!)